Racism and America

mac · Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:18 pm Post subject:

RR--careful, you'll get an accusation from Virginia (northern Alabama ?) that you are an anti-Catholic bigot!

As a "recovering Catholic", former altar boy, I am profoundly ashamed of what the church hierarchy did. The cover-up was systematic and occurred in multiple countries. I've seen nothing that demonstrates that priests are any more prone to pederasty, but the cover-up and protection of priests rather than children was shameful.

With that said, it is not easy to figure out what the right thing is, much less implement it. Francis has serious detractors within the church, both for his vision of the importance of the poverty mission, as well as his believe in tolerance. He is also trying to drain multiple cess-pools. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/secrets-of-the-vatican/

and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/religion/secrets-of-the-vatican/can-the-curia-be-reformed/

Money laundering, influence peddling, cronyism and more, not just covering up sexual abuse.

For years when I was growing up, the church was searching for new priests and nuns--the foot soldiers in religious activities at a parish level where most religions do far more good than evil. It is difficult--and maybe impossible--to can every priest who made a mistake and still have enough staff to do the good work of the church.

True reform, in my opinion, means moving away from the patriarchical, "abstinent" view of the church hierarchy and developing leaders among women and among married people that understand sexuality and can communicate positively, and with some understanding of a long-term sexual relationship. I have no doubt that much of the difficulty within the church is rationalizing vows of abstinence with the nature of the human animal, and it has made sexuality an obsession rather than a joy. Sad indeed.

Enjoy Francis for what he is--a breath of fresh air. Compared to Pius XII, he is a saint.

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

I would have the exact same criticism of any organization that condoned that behavior, so no, that is not anti-Catholic bigotry.

I'm not taking about reprimanding every priest who's made a "mistake". I am talking about zero tolerance of pedophiles. If the church should suffer as a result, then tough. If he's draining multiple cess-pools he's definitely hitting the soft balls first. When you want to clear house you take down the worst offenders, the rest run for the hills or step in line.

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

Mac,

Watching the video link. My blood pressure probably shot to dangerous levels, under my breath I mutter "WTF", and I can't help but fear my reaction if one of those children was mine.

A Pope who would not take harsh, immediate, and forceful action is not equipped to deal with this disgusting corruption. Two years post anointing, and little to no change? You're all kidding yourselves.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Bill O'Reilly, a lifelong devout Catholic but also a rabid activist for the protection of children, is furious at the church over this issue. He recently informed some legislative body on worldwide TV that any legislator who votes against some specific (I forget which) child protection measure would see his face and name on TV worldwide the next day.

That's one advantage of being a news analyst and commentator rather than strictly a hard news anchor: he is still held to the truth by viewers and obsessive critics (his harshest critics are seldom knowledgeable viewers) worldwide, but he gets to actually influence outcomes now and then. His success in getting Jessica's Law passed in almost every state must be pretty rewarding.

uwindsurf · Joined: 18 Aug 2012 Posts: 968 Location: Classified

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

While watching this movie I was constantly reminded up this passage - Galatians 1:6-8

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!

I wonder how many Catholics, or people in general, would even comprehend the full meaning and lesson of the book of Galatians.

mac · Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject:

RR--I hope you kept watching until the end. It is a pretty well balanced piece. I remember most of the pieces spilling out over time--in essence, how raising money from the wealthiest Catholics--warped the function of the church. But don't be too hard on Francis. It was Benedict, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, that was close to the decisions made about protecting the priests not the children. To his defense, that was long after most of the crimes had been committed, and he seemed to have been truly overwhelmed when he saw the magnitude of the crimes.

Benedict was, of course, strongly supported by Catholic conservatives, who have been the resistance bloc to change in the church for many decades.

KGB-NP · Joined: 25 Jul 2001 Posts: 2856

I did watch until the end. The most bizarre part is that not much has changed from Luther's 16th century account of the Catholic church. I found the first part of that documentary deeply disturbing. The financial laundering and hierarchy didn't surprise me one bit, but it was interesting.

real-human · Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14888 Location: on earth

again if I owned the media as a liberal stuff like this would be front page. this is a top staffer and a former Baptist Pastor and paid senior advisor to a congressman.

hardly a blip out there... and this is not even the deep south.

http://news.yahoo.com/congressman-aaron-schock-s-adviser-resigns-over-alleged-racist-facebook-posts-211832888.html